The Foyer ART Gallery

YOICHIRO YODA“Bromide Paintings”

Ever since seeing Lillian Gish in Way Down East at the Museum of Modern art in 1995, Yoichiro Yoda was mesmerized by the power and beauty of silent films.In the days before the Internet, Yoichiro frequently went to Jerry OhLinger’s and Movie Star News in Manhattan to purchase glossy black and white “bromide photos” of his favorite film stars which he brought back to his studio. This was when his Bromide Paintings first began.

20 Years later, Yoichiro’s Bromide Paintings (which are oil on canvas portraits) have grown into a series of over 100 paintings.

Most recently, he exhibited 40 Bromide Paintings inside the lobby of his theatre project titled “Island Theatre Megi” for the Setouchi Triennale 2016 in Kagawa, Japan.

Now you can see his latest bromide Paintings at the 13th Street Repertory Theatre.

This time, in addition to silent film and film noir stars, Yoichiro will include several character actors of the 1930’s and 1940’s.

P A S T S H O W S

ALIZA TUCKER

Opening August 11 - Reception 5 - 7:30

ALIZA TUCKER

Aliza Tucker is a multidisciplinary artist who blends painting, photography and poetry into a practice that is uniquely her own. After realizing that a degree in psychology ironically left her more distanced from an understanding of herself, she turned to art for answers and never looked back. Mining the smallest bits of ephemera, from rabbit- eared book pages to cracks in the asphalt, she acts as a detective whose primary investigation is to understand herself. The clues she uncovers daily are shared with the world via Instagram, where she hopes that through social media, others will not only help unlock her mystery, but use of the arts as a means of going on their own self- exploratory journeys.

Aliza's work has been exhibited at Raritan Valley Community College in New Jersey, the CENTRAL BOOKING art Space in Manhattan, as well as and the Brooklyn-based Bishop Gallery and Smith&Jones in Brooklyn. Her work has been published in several magazines and catalogs, including those from Deadly Chaps Press, A-Minor Magazine, and Le Petit Press. Collaboratively she has pursued projects with and assisted fellow artists such as Barbara Rosenthal, Prudence Groube, Gabriel Don, Joseph Quintela and Maddy Rosenberg, and has worked as an assistant curator, editorial assistant, gallery consultant and studio assistant. She spends her time commuting back and forth between Brooklyn and West Orange, New Jersey with an x-acto knife and whatever material catches her eye, looking for her next clue. ​

Samm Cohen

July, 2016

Samm Cohen

“Compelled”, small but bursting works made through years of the raw emotive needs and thoughts of artist Samm Cohen, will be on display in the Foyer Art Gallery at the 13 Street Repertory Theater for the month of July 2016. Coupled with an avant guard production of Hamlet, these two art forms will play off each others questionings and discovery, intriguing the audiences with a strength of not always being typically strong, a darkly reflective sense of the complexities of life and self. Pry with us into your own personal and social demons. Please stop by and see the art in person, as this kind of passion and exploration can only be relayed so much in words…​Samm Cohen, born in New York, has been making intense passionate artwork since before she could write. With painting and photography regularly used in her family as a communication of individual perspective and style, Samm has been studying and modifying her expression for over 30 years. Within this, Samm has also studied psychology from many angles and also pushed her voice through poetry and music. She has expanded to digital, video, sculpture, and jewelry, though of course Samm still paints and photographs. Whatever feels right and seems pertinent to the message being aesthetically conveyed. Color and line are filled with ardor and pushed across the surface with explosive emotion. Text is often used either blatantly or hidden in the ethereal canvas. The raw and honest quality of the work shows her devotion to her art and the messages being conveyed.

Daughter of a mathmatician/ artist, her work shows a use of both hemisspheres of the mind from a young age. She attended the famed Music and Art high school in NYC and has explored various forms of art as well as exhibiting since. Samm has shown in over 30 various art exhibitions, mostly in the New York area, in both a solo and a group capacity, and has published and been interviewed for a number of different journals.

For more information, to experience the work, or to see the artist's resume: www.SammCohen.com

LOU PATROU

January 2016

Lou Patrou has been drawing and painting faces since the 1960's and has been steadily creating a body of work with a portfolio that spans over four decades. Patrou's work is difficult to categorize because he doesn't always use the same artistic language, repeat the same disciplines or follow a straight direction with his work. One thing you could say is that he is obsessed with making faces and finding new ways to create designs and forms out of them.

Lou is able to successfully jump between several styles and techniques. His work can go from tight graphic pop art, rendered whimsical and kitschy pieces suggesting patterns to visceral narratives in pencil or pastels.

While working in a large fine art graphics house in Los Angeles in the mid 80’s Lou started experimenting with reproducing his images as fine art photographic reproductions and over the years began selling large mural prints of his work on various substrates as installation pieces.

Lou has exhibited his work in galleries in New York City, San Diego, Los Angeles, upstate New York and London. His mix of whimsical & Pop, pattern and puzzle, surrealistic images are finding their way onto various products. He exhibits his original work in galleries and also produces limited edition prints. In addition, in the last few years, Lou has been very involved in product development and licensing, and has been incorporating his work into product design. ​His Hank & Sylvie images have been chosen for design of a collectible Artist Series of luxury limited edition pens due to come out in 2016.

Lou participated in the Cartoon Network's 20th Anniversary Show for ComicCon 2012 in San Diego. His painting for the show is featured in the limited hard cover book published exclusively for Turner Entertainment.

Lou's Pop Surreal and pattern paintings were chosen to be included in the Firebox Artist Collection of hand pressed collectible micro-booklets that is currently touring France as part of a group show of international artists. His drawing Priest, an elegant and haunting surreal black & white face with decorative tattoos on it was featured on the cover of ColorInk Book a collectible graphic arts magazine. His work has been written about in countless art & design articles and featured in print magazines around the world.

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U P C O M I N G S H O W S

Matthew Septimus

From the moment he first picked up a camera, Matthew Septimus began his profound and diligent photographic search for meaning by capturing the lives of many dynamic people on the New York City streets he loves. His photos open a window into the incredibly diverse subjects and exciting situations that have appeared in front of his lens. Matthew continues his joyous process of capturing momentary insights and emotional connections with his ever expanding portraits of life.He lives in Ditmas Park Brooklyn, with his wife, two children, dog, cat and the various birds he feeds in his backyard.

Susan Schrott, Textile ArtistBeyond Textiles: For Love of the Imagination

As a young woman, the multi-talented Susan Schrott appeared in numerous original roles at the Jewish Repertory Theatre in NYC. Later she earned her MSW and is a Diplomate in Clinical Social Work and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist. She is also a certified Kripalu Yoga instructor. As her passion for textile arts evolved into a significant medium of self-expression, her work as a textile artist began to garner critical attention from the art quilt world. Her professional memberships include Actors Equity, Studio Art Quilts Associations and her artwork is currently approved for curatorial review at the Pen and Brush in NYC.

Susan Schrott's enchanting artwork has a sense of freedom and joyfulness that most people long for. She imbues her work with an imaginative use of color, hand dyed fabrics and boundless imagination. Motivated by intensity, passion, integrity and rhythm, her objective is to move people and instill a sense of hopefulness that is dormant within themselves until they realize that they posses the energy to inspire others. Her work highlights women who are strong, confident, and possess a unique beauty. A theme that appears frequently in Susan's work is "The Tree" that represents the vital force that energizes and enriches all spaces and all lives. ​

Professor Inna Bodner (scenic/set designer) was born in Kiev, Ukraine. Since 1993, Inna had been residing and working in New York. Ms. Bodner’s personal art exhibitions have been exhibited in some of the most prestigious galleries in New York, London, Jerusalem, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kiev. Her paintings and drawings can be found in numerous gallery collections throughout the United States and in Eastern and Western Europe. Having successfully worked with various eclectic art mediums, Professor Bodner had enormous experience as a critically acclaimed artist in the complex and challenging terrain of graphic design, painting, video, and theater scenic/set design. In the ebbing theatre sphere, Inna found her artistic soul-mate in working steadfastly with long-time colleague and creative collaborator, Dr. Sophia Romma. They had worked in perfect harmony, complimenting each other’s thought-provoking ideas, occasionally treading on thin ice by presenting politically controversial theatrical pieces in an effort to crack open previously gated avenues for women in the theatre arts. Professor Bodner was an award-winning scenic and set designer for the Negro Ensemble Company’s Production of The Mire at the Cherry Lane Theatre in 2010 and of Cherry Lane’s Production of The Past Is Still Ahead in 2007, with which Ms. Bodner and Dr. Romma toured internationally at the Mayakovski Academic Art Theatre in Moscow (2007), the Pushkin House (2009) and Oxford University (2009), the Millennium Theatre in Brooklyn, NY (2009) and at the JCC in Manhattan (2008). Inna's prolific artistry and lofty, provocative theatrical set designs continue to bask posthumously in a most fruitful collaboration with playwright, S. Romma, as Sophia’s plays consistently feature Inna’s evocative, soul-bearing scenic designs which to this day thrive at The Midtown International Theatre Festival, appearing in the limelight of The O’Neill Film and Theatrical Foundation’s productions of Ms. Romma’s Carte Blanche (at the Midtown International March Madness Theatre Festival in 2015). Ms. Romma has toured Seoul, South Korea and the UK, featuring Professor Bodner’s unique and multifaceted set and scenic design which she had created specifically for The Past Is Still Ahead: A portrait of the exiled yet Russian Feminist Poetess, Marina Tsvetaeva. A great loss to the art and theater world, Ms. Bodner passed away unexpectedly in August of 2011, from breast cancer at the age of 43. She had 350 artworks in private collection in Ukraine at the time of her death, including 200 works on paper. Professor Bodner served as Professor of The Art of Western Civilization at The O’Neill Film and Theatrical Foundation and at Moscow University Touro.

Ukrainian Guardians of Feminist Avant-GardeArtworks by Inna Bodner

An exhibition which explores and confronts the relationship between ethereal existential existence and the veiled chaos of everyday life, as mortals grapple with mortality. While the focus is on the artifice of nature, her works depart from the overtly adorned surfaces of nature and human habitat, revealing the presence of social and non-conformist anxiety ever-present in the constellation of modernity, which the artist has attempted to romanticize by utilizing the poetry of her dancing brush on canvas. Inna’s elaborate set/scenic designs are presented in various theatre posters from theatrical productions in collaboration with Sophia Romma.

“An immense loss to the art and theatre world, Professor Bodner passed away unexpectedly in August of 2011, from breast cancer, at the tender age of forty-three. She had 350 artworks (oil on canvas) in private collection in Ukraine at the time of her death, including 200 works on paper. Donations will be accepted to help preserve Ms. Bodner’s creative legacy with proceeds given to breast cancer research. The public will be invited to leave written comments in a memorial book to be presented to Inna’s parents at the closing of the exhibition with a copy preserved with her collection.”(Heidi E. Russell Fine Art Photographer ~ Creative Collaborator and Curator ~ Publisher International Women Artists' Salon, founder)

The exhibition shall open on February 1st and run until February 29th at the 13th Street Repertory Company, 50 West 13th Street, New York, NY 10011.

ReceptionFriday, February 19th, 2016, at 7:15 PM.

Ukrainian cuisine and Uzbek delights along with champagne will be served, courtesy of Underground Voices of Theatre and The O’Neill Film and Theatrical Foundation. A Brief presentation will ensue by Sophia Romma and Heidi Russell.

P A S T A R T E X H I B I T S

VICTOR FRIEDMAN

Victor Friedman has been creating photographic art for over forty years. His work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Museum of the City of New York.

He has exhibited in galleries in New York and Philadelphia as well as the University of Mexico and Haifa University, Israel.

His prints were selected by the U.S. Ambassador to Germany for display on the walls of the US Embassy in Berlin. Photo credits include The New York Times, Popular Photography, Black & White Magazine and publications by West Publishing, McGraw-Hill, John Wiley, Harper & Row, and Penguin Group.

FRED HATT

I am a self-taught artist, having maintained a practice of drawing and painting, performing and collaborating with performers, writing, teaching, and creating media since 1994 in New York. Since 2009 I have published the influential art blog “Drawing Life” (fredhatt.com/blog).

Life drawing is the foundation of my practice. I run drawing classes at Spring Studio and other venues.

I have exhibited widely since 1998, having had nine solo shows of my drawing work. I have also shown work in scores of group shows, as well as many presentations in unconventional venues including the American Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Sex.

Though my drawing is grounded in figuration, I often push it in experimental directions, exploring aspects of time or multiple points of view. Drawing seems to me the most flexible creative practice for exploring process and perception. I am also interested in crossing the boundaries between performance and visual arts, between traditional craft and contemporary technologies.

I have presented drawing and painting as a form of dance or performance art, and have collaborated frequently with dancers, actors and musicians, in public events, in the studio, and on film. Venues include PS122, La MaMa, Chashama, BAAD, CPR, and many others.

I have a background in film and media, with a filmmaking degree from the University of Southern California, and was formerly director of operations at NYC’s late media arts center, Film/Video Arts. More recently, I have worked as a freelance photographer and videographer within the field of fine art and performing arts, and as a freelance projectionist at venues including the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center.

Fred

ROBERT STATTEL

Artist / Actor Robert Stattel has been an actor and painter for over 50 years. He has appeared in more than a dozen Broadway shows, over 60 Off Broadway shows and countless regional productions. He has also been featured in many TV shows.

He has received many awards and been praised as one of the premier classical actors in the country.

In between acting engagements, he has continued to paint and study at the Art Students League of New York as well as pivately with Terrence Coyle. After closing the national tour of "Little Women", he became a painter full time, preferring to spend his time at his studio in the beautiful Hudson Valley. Since then he has had two one-man shows at The Great South Bay Gallery in Hudson, NY. During the tour of "Little Women" he painted many murals of the show on the backstage walls of theaters across the country where they played. He also completed many works that were privately commissioned.

He wishes to bring the richness of a life in the theater to his work and has done collections of productions of "Hamlet" and "Little Women". He has been exhibited in New York City, Salisbury, CT, Floral Park, NY and Hudson, NY and his paintings are part of many private collections.